Cybertron: Before the War
by Friedrickson2
Summary: The story of how Cybertron descended into civil war between Autobots and Decepticons, from the corrupt government to the revolutionary who then sought to kill all who spoke out against him to his ally turned enemy. Inspired by Exodus, the films, and human history. Original rating-M. Crappy summary but please give it a chance!
1. Prologue

The planet Cybertron was unusual, in that it was composed almost entirely of metal. It was very large as well, a diameter of 52,000 kilometres across, making it one of the biggest planets in its particular solar system. It was also quite old, having been formed around 4.4 billion years ago.

The sentient life-forms on the planet Cybertron, the Cybertronians, were also metallic, and possessed the ability to change their form from their primary form to an alternate mode, which in most cases was a transportation vehicle. Created by the Well, which housed the AllSpark, newly created Cybertronians, or Sparklings, were then assigned their particular alternate form before being sorted into a particular caste and Family. There were dozens of castes on Cybertron, each fulfilling a particular role in society.

* * *

For the past nine million solar cycles, Cybertronian society had been divided into castes, and very few Cybertronians remembered what it was like before the castes, partly because only two or three of them had been born before the castes. But there was a time before the castes, when Cybertron was the hub of a great economic and political empire, stretching across the galaxy. That was the time of the Golden Age, when all of the planet's citizens prospered and were free to choose their own role in life. A true democracy flourished on Cybertron.

During this time, the great writer and statesman Alpha Trion served on the Cybertronian High Parliament for many thousands of solar cycles, first as Chief Minister for Justice and the Law, then as Chief Minister for the Arts and Culture, both of them being part of the Lower House, the Federal Council, before serving in the Upper House, the Senate. After the caste system was put into place, he left the public gaze. Nobody asked where he went. Nobody cared.

The planet was divided, politically and socially, into city-states. The most powerful city-states were Iacon, Kaon, Crystal City and Polyhex. Vos and Tarn were equally important, but held less power. The governors of the city-states were called magistrates, and the politicians who stood in High Government for their city-states were Representatives.

The Houses that formed the Cybertronian High Parliament were headed by two different politicians. The Chief Senator was in charge of keeping order in the Senate, scheduling meetings of the Senate and announcing the results of a vote in the Senate when a bill was introduced. The Consul was the Chief Senator's equivalent in the Federal Council, but he also had the duty of opening Parliament.

* * *

The Head of the Cybertronian High Government was the Prime, who was also Head of State. The first Thirteen Cybertronians were each named as Primes, but had quickly descended into war when Solus Prime, the first female of their kind, was killed by Megatronus Prime, who became known as The Fallen. Only three Primes survived the war: Alpha Trion, who hid this fact about himself. Megatronus Prime himself, who was quickly placed into a prison so secure nothing could get in or out as punishment for his crimes. Finally there was Prima, the youngest and strongest of the Primes.

Prima, before his death five million solar cycles later, told the people of Cybertron he had sworn to lead and govern with righteousness after the War of the Primes, that the Matrix of Leadership, a powerful artefact which somehow possessed the ability to enhance the bearer's physical attributes and hold the knowledge of all that had previously worn it, and hold copies of their consciousness, would be used to choose all Primes from there forth.

However, only a direct descendant of Prima, and as a result, the Thirteen Primes, could fully use the entirety of the Matrix's power. This did not matter, as the Matrix always chose those who possessed the highest virtues and greatest respect for life to be Prime. That was how it went for the next six million solar cycles. In that time, the Golden Age took place, and many explorers left the planet and founded Transformer colonies on different planets.

* * *

Then, the invasion happened.

The Quintessons, five-faced tentacle creatures of great intelligence and power, sought to invade Cybertron and control it as part of their Greater Co-Prosperity Sphere, which was merely a cover name for their oppressive empire. The invasion and subsequent siege lasted for two hundred and fifty thousand solar cycles and led to much devastation on the Cybertronian side, the Matrix of Leadership going missing in the Battle of Kaon City.

The siege resulted in a victory for the Cybertronians, but much destruction and breakdown in social order, along with the end of the Great Cybertronian Empire. As a result, the surviving Senators and Councillors met with the surviving military generals at the Styx Base to draw up plans to bring about social order: The caste system.

For nine million solar cycles, Cybertronian society was divided by the castes. Inter-caste marriage had to be approved by the magistrates, and could only be to a member of a caste of equal standing. The Primes were no longer chosen by the Matrix, but by both the Councillors and the Senators. In time, government became corrupt, and many low-caste Cybertronians dwelled in poverty.

But all that was about to change.


	2. The Kaon Gladiator

Soundwave was, compared to many of the 'bots present in Kaon Stadium, small. He was only around 3 mechanometres high, and his build was unusual too. An operation due to an illness when he was a Sparkling caused his right leg to be slightly shorter than the other, and as a result he wore a leg brace and walked with a limp. He was able to compensate by researching ways to change the way he transformed, so as to reduce any pain yet still complete the transformation process, as well as advancing his mental and intellectual abilities.

The reason why he was present at this latest gladiator fight was because he had heard of a charismatic gladiator named Megatron who, so far, had competed in 59 death matches over the past 100 solar cycles and won each time, and had won 127 fights where it was victory at first wound out of 145. This intrigued him-very few gladiators were ever that successful, as they usually lasted only a few orbital cycles. But this one had managed to survive.

* * *

Right now, this gladiator was fighting a match to the death, against a four-armed robot that transformed into an industrial crane with interchangeable mounts. Four-arms lunged a drill-arm at Megatron, who dove and avoided it, before raising his clawed hand and digging his fingers into his opponent's back. The audience cheered, and then Megatron climbed up onto his opponent's back and proceeded to punch him repeatedly in the back of the head, managing to tear off a forearm, which was as big as his leg, but Megatron was strong, and able to hold this forearm in one hand without any difficulty whatsoever, even when holding onto a struggling giant opponent.

Then the four-armed beast grabbed his adversary by the left shoulder and tossed him onto the ground, but as he lay on the pit floor for a brief nanoklik, Megatron smiled. _This_ was the moment he had been waiting for.

He ran at his opponent, transformed his right forearm into a dull grey blade, then slammed it through the other 'bot's head, cutting it in two. The bigger robot stayed standing for just a few seconds, and then it fell to the ground, Energon spilling out of his wounds, completely defenceless and dead in nearly every way but one.

Soundwave watched as his fellow fight-attenders cheer for the other 'bot's death and Megatron heeded their call. Raising his blade-arm, he thrust it into the centre of the chest into the Spark-chamber, ending his opponent's life completely.

Then, at that point, the entire Stadium erupted into applause, everyone, even Soundwave, cheering for the victor. The cheering and applause lasted for a full five astro-minutes, with Megatron standing upon the dead loser's corpse, his arms wide, apparently soaking in the praise. Then, transforming his blade back, he began to speak.

The crowd went silent.

* * *

"Would anyone here like to challenge me? Would anybody dare to step up to the challenge?" he roared, asking the audience. "Any three of you? Any ten of you? Any 15 of you, even, would you dare to fight me and challenge me for everything I've ever won?"

He took the severed forearm in his hand, and raised it up over his head. The crowd went wild.

"Nobody defeats Megatron! Remember this day, fellow Cybertronians! Remember it!" he called out, ripping the forearm into pieces and throwing them at the crowds for them to catch.

He left the arena and went into a corridor which led to a stairway. Then he began descending the stairs, and entered a hallway where there were at least twenty-five and at most fifty other gladiators, each one covered in bruises and dents. Many were getting limbs replaced, others getting repairs to their body after their latest fights.

Soundwave, unbeknownst to the victorious gladiator and the bouncers, had followed Megatron down the stairs and was able to hide from view as Megatron began speaking to the others of his kind.

* * *

"No matter what caste you come from, you are able to be picked out for military service. That is not unfair, but what is a true injustice is that the officers are all of the higher castes. That means they can send our own brothers out to shoot us down in the streets, simply for rebelling against their corruption! How can they proclaim themselves to be protectors of Cybertron when they only protect themselves and the higher castes?!

"Furthermore, is there a real reason for trying to divide us? The casing that protects you Spark, Lugnut," pointing at a large gladiator around 5 mechanometres wide and 9 mechanometres tall, "is made of the same armour as the casing of Sentinel Prime, our decadent leader! My lubricants are the same as those of the old fools in the Senate! We are all made of the same things.

"We are Cybertronians! Once we were free! Our ancestors were free once! Back then, we were the greatest planet in the galaxy! Now, because of the castes and the Guilds, our race has fallen! It is our duty to bring it back to the Golden Age, to free our fellow Cybertronians from the chains of caste!"

At this last sentence, all the gladiators present cheered. Then they heard a voice.

* * *

" _We are Cybertronians! Once we were free! Our ancestors were free once! Back then, we were the greatest planet in the galaxy!"_ said the voice, which sounded completely identical to that of Megatron's. Megatron turned round, and saw Soundwave, his face a blank screen, playing and replaying the gladiator's speech over and over again.

"Who are you?" asked Megatron, his voice now softer.

"Designation: Soundwave. Home city-state: Crystal City. Possession of views opposing the caste system: Affirmative." Soundwave's voice was deep, growling and metallic.

"Interesting. Tell me, Soundwave, what skills do you possess that could aid me and my oldest and loyal followers in spreading our beliefs?" asked Megatron.

Soundwave's reply was well-thought out: "You will need more than charisma and a small squadron of gladiators, Megatron, if you are to spread beyond Kaon. I was born into the communications caste, and possess great knowledge of propaganda."

"Proper-what now?" asked a medium-sized ex-soldier by the name of Bonecrusher.

"The spreading of our beliefs whilst undermining our enemies' credibility," explained Megatron. Then he turned back to Soundwave. "What else is there?"

"I happen to know of several denizens of Iacon who have heard of you and strongly believe in your movement. I can arrange to bring them here," he replied. Megatron smiled, and spread out his right arm.

"Then welcome, Soundwave, to our movement to abolish the castes for all time."

 **AN: Mechanometre=2 Earth metres**

 **Solar cycle=1 Cybertronian year/10 Earth years**

 **Century=1 Cybertronian century/1 Earth millenium**

 **Also, Soundwave's limp and leg is taken from Nazi Propaganda Minister Joseph Goebbels.**


	3. Maccadam's

Prowl sipped from his mug of oil, looking at the many drinks and fuels on the shelves behind the bar at Maccadam's Old Oil House, one of the best bars in Iacon. He knew this was true-as a lieutenant in the Iaconian Police Force, he was sometimes forced to go to some of the high-end drinking holes, but the stuff there wasn't half as good as the oil here, in this predominantly lower-caste bar.

He knew there were a few people looking at him funny-police officers were of the middle caste, and like all other castes above the construction worker, were viewed with contempt by the lower castes. The police were seen as the bots that carried out the wills and wishes of the higher castes, arresting and even murdering bots who were deemed to be 'enemies of the government'. So far, he had managed to avoid being one of the bots who had not killed somebody the higher castes didn't like.

* * *

He felt a sharp finger tap his shoulder, and he turned around to see another 'bot, tall and thin, about six mechanometres tall, with an orange visor permanently fixed over his optical sensors, which were also orange. Prowl sighed inside.

"What do you want, Hook?" he asked. Hook shrugged. "My seat, copper. Get out." Prowl looked at where he was sitting, then looked at the taller bot. "Will you attack me if I refuse to get out of this seat?"

"Maybe. Depends on whether or not you hit me or use your Energon Pistol," replied Hook with a sneer. Prowl simply raised his right hand, saying "I understand. Believe me; I do not want any violence. You can have your seat." He got out of the seat, taking his mug of oil with him. Hook smiled and watched the officer as he walked to a booth in the corner, before sitting down on the seat and ordering a mug of high-grade Energon from the bartender.

The doors opened, and the bar began to get quieter. Hook, confused as to why that happened, turned around and saw Blitzwing, a Captain in the army who was currently off-duty. He was unusual for a Cybertronian in that he was a Triple-Changer; he had two alternate forms. He was around the same height as Hook, but twice as wide.

"How are you, Hook?" he asked the Constructicon. Hook tilted his head, replying "I went to a rally in Slaughter City. It was Megatron and his followers." Blitzwing raised a brow. "What was it like, Hook?"

"He is incredibly honest and charismatic. We all know that the caste system divides us and limits our choices, but I have never seen such a charismatic and great telling of how the government and higher castes lie to us and oppress us. And there were a lot of 'bots there, Blitzwing. A lot. Nearly every Constructicon from Kaon and Slaughter City was there, as were a hell of a lot of ex-soldiers, miners, industrial workers, gladiators and his truest follower, Soundwave."

"Soundwave is the skinny one with the limp, right?" asked Blitzwing. "Yep. When Soundwave became one of Megatron's followers, about 100 solar cycles ago, he had only 40-50 followers. Now there are 7,000 because Soundwave knows how to spread Megatron's speeches around. And there's a rumour that Wildrider, the racer, is a supporter."

"Neat. Perhaps the Army High Command should follow him, since he loves them so much."

* * *

As Blitzwing and Hook continued their conversation, a tall red 'bot with blue shins and head, with sapphire optics with a royal blue centre, walked into the bar, unnoticed by anybody, looked for Prowl and found him before walking over to his booth. "How are you doing, Prowl?" he asked. Prowl looked up. "I'm fine, Optimus."

"Good," replied Optimus as he sat down next to Prowl. "What do you think about him, anyway?"

"Who?"

"Megatron."

"I think his speeches have logic, but some ideas of his, such as total reform of government and military-they are just impossible at the moment. Unless he's planning a revolution or coup, in which case it's only a matter of time before he and his followers are arrested."

"That'll be difficult," said Optimus. "Drivetrain, the Chief of the Constructicons, is a supporter. As are nearly half the Constructicons, a lot of disgruntled former soldiers from that war between Kaon and Blaster City, and a few mid-caste 'bots, like the well-known Soundwave, the scientist Shockwave and General Fearstorm of the First Kaonian Riflemen Corps."

"General Fearstorm?" asked Prowl, amazed. Optimus nodded, and then looked at his wrist. "I have to go. They expect in the courtroom in about ten astro-minutes." Prowl nodded, watching his young friend stand up and exit. "Goodbye, Orion," he called out. He then shook his head slightly.

Optimus, or Orion as he had been called since his days in the Institute of Higher Programming, was an intelligent, morally-driven 'bot, and the youngest to pass the bar in Iacon in two millenniums when he did. He was a good counsel, and a damn great defence attorney, but he despised the castes, and was a firm believer in democracy. Sooner or later, thought Prowl, he'll get into trouble.

In the meantime, Orion would go on leading the same life he had been leading for the past six centuries, since he had been called to the bar.

But sooner or later, the political climate that Megatron was pushing towards instability would end up drawing Optimus in, whether he liked it or not.

* * *

 **AN: Optimus as a lawyer. I'll explain that later.**

 **And Starscream will appear too, probably at some point within the next two chapters.**

 **Review, favourite, follow, etc. Do those things if you like it, or if you want to give me constructive criticism. Because I've probably made some mistakes or bad writing somewhere, and I'd like to know where to improve.**


	4. Air Marshal Starscream

It had been 250 solar cycles since Megatron had first introduced himself in the gladiator pits of Kaon, and he now had at least 112,237 followers, many of them secret, so as to avoid arrest by the government.

That there was a practical secret army forming did not concern Starscream, the Chief Air Marshal of the Cybertronian Air Forces and Chief of Air Command. He was more concerned with keeping his troops (he always referred to the 2 million flyers in the Air Force as being 'his' troops) in tip-top shape and his own popularity among them.

The second part was quite easy, which made the first part easy too, for Starscream was the youngest Chief Air Marshal in the history of the Air Force, and was additionally a Colonel in the Army. He was charismatic, intelligent, and immensely popular with every one of his troops. Additionally, he was also well-liked among the lower castes, despite being of the high-ranking caste of elite flyers-the Seekers.

And it just so happened that because of all these things, he was the last person anybody would suspect of taking interest in Megatron's activities.

But it took some time for him to notice the Kaonian gladiator.

* * *

It was a calm afternoon. Starscream was overseeing a drill sergeant training new recruits into the Air Force when he heard someone running towards him. Turning around, he saw it was Sunstorm, his twin brother and the Deputy-Chief of Cybertron Air Command. The look on Sunstorm's face was enough to tell Starscream that whatever Sunstorm had to tell him, it was important.

"Starscream! Starscream! Sentinel Prime is here!" he said to his brother. Starscream's optic centres widened in shock. "Supervise the recruits for me while I see him, Sunstorm. And get me Skywarp!" he ordered. Sunstorm nodded, and watched as his twin rushed off to see Sentinel Prime.

Sentinel Prime towered over the head of the Chief Air Marshal, and had a build that showed he was not only old, but still a capable warrior. He had come out of the Well a few solar cycles before the Quintessons had been driven from Cybertron, and was present when the caste system had been drawn up in Styx.

"Sentinel Prime, Sir, Chief Air Marshal Starscream reporting, Sir!" said Starscream in a serious, submissive tone as he saluted the Prime. He had been assigned to guard Sentinel Prime when Kaon and Blaster City had gone to war with one another, in case sympathisers from either side killed the Prime, and had learned a great deal of the old 'bot's habits, most important of them being that in old age, he was a coward.

"At ease, Starscream," said Sentinel Prime in an authoritative voice. Starscream smiled inside. _The old fool hasn't changed a bit, I see_.

"I need you to head to Kaon for a few lunar cycles. Pretend to be interested in the Kaon gladiator and his followers. They have the potential to become dangerous."

"You want me to spy on Megatron, Sir?" asked Starscream, raising an optic ridge. Sentinel Prime nodded. "You are to leave immediately. I would recommend a new colour scheme first, though."

Starscream nodded. "I understand perfectly, Sentinel Prime, Sir."

The aging Prime nodded. "Good, good. You may leave now, Starscream."

Starscream saluted again and walked off.

* * *

Three days later, he had changed his colour scheme from silver and grey to black on his helm, a light grey on his neck, arms, legs, torso and wings, a scarlet red on the edges of his wings and on his shoulders, and a metallic royal blue on his knuckles. He had researched quite thoroughly on Megatron, too. His gladiator fights were all over the DataNet, as were a few of his rallies. Starscream was amazed by his charisma, his fighting skill and by his speeches. "He must have been in the army," mused Starscream, amazed at how the gladiator was not dead or in prison yet.

Kaon was, as he had expected, dirty. Even the army base located here was not completely clean.

It was easy for Starscream to find some 'bots that followed Megatron, as most of Megatron's followers were from Kaon. It was merely a matter of introducing himself.

Luckily, there were one or two local followers who were in the Air Force and recognised him.

"What are you doing here, Chief Air Marshal Starscream?" asked one of them.

"Sentinel Prime wants me to help in getting rid of Megatron, and has sent me here to spy on him. But what he doesn't know is that I want to meet Megatron, and help him in his goals."

The two slag-for-brains bought that story completely, and took him off to where Megatron and his movement were based.

"So, uh, how many people are now listening regularly to Megatron and are among his followers?" asked Starscream. He saw little need to use his authoritative, militaristic side now.

"About 119,000, last I heard. They're using films now to spread their ideas."

"My, my. And to think, he got to where he was by himself."

"He has had lots of help from people who share his ideas and beliefs much more purely than we do."

* * *

The building were Megatron and his movement were based was the Kaon gladiator arena, which a few solar cycles ago had been taken over by Megatron and his followers. The crime bosses who ran the gladiator pits were found in a scrapyard later. Megatron was now in charge of every gladiator in the Badlands region of Cybertron, and this had contributed in the recent flood of new recruits to the movement, as did more soldiers and lower-caste and middle-caste 'bots.

Megatron was at the entrance now, talking to Lugnut. Lugnut nodded and then walked off in another direction. "Megatron!" called out one of the flyers. The tall ex-gladiator-turned-revolutionary looked at the trio, and walked slowly towards them.

"Who is this?" he asked in a softer, more curious voice.

"This is Starscream, head of the Air Force. He said he wanted to meet you."

"The famous Starscream. I am impressed with your youth, I must say."

"Yes, well, I hope that my meeting you and becoming part of your inner circle will stem more of my troops to join your ranks and listen to your speeches." Starscream had listened to every syllable of Megatron's speeches and watched the propaganda films. He wouldn't be lying if he said he found the gladiator intriguing.

"Ah ha. So that is why you are here. To aid in the fulfilment of our goals of abolishing the castes for good," said Megatron, smiling.

"Well, yes….but may we please speak in a more private area?" asked Starscream. Megatron nodded, and waved at Soundwave, telling the thin 'bot to come with him.

Megatron's office was large. It had a globe of Cybertron and its moons hanging from the ceiling, shelves filled with books, manuscripts on the desk, and a map of the former Great Cybertronian Empire.

"Impressive," said Starscream. He was not lying. He had assumed that Megatron was but a thug with a silver tongue, and only the rudimentary knowledge of the workings of the caste system. Instead, he had intelligence, a rather profound knowledge of Cybertron's government, and judging by the map, a desire to expand the Cybertronian race out to the stars and recreate the galaxy-wide empire the planet was in control of during the Golden Age.

"Well, Starscream, what do you wish to speak to me about?" asked Megatron. Starscream thought for a few seconds, debating whether or not he should tell the ex-gladiator why he was really here, or a skewered version of the truth.

"I had thought of coming here and attending one of your meetings for quite some time," said Starscream, "but the fact that I am here now-it was not fully of my accord. I was sent here, by Sentinel Prime himself."

"So you were telling part of the truth that you wished to meet me?" asked Megatron, raising an optic ridge. Starscream knew that he may not walk out of that room in one piece, let alone alive, if he didn't tell everything.

"The old fool ordered me to spy on you, saying you had the potential to become dangerous. But I know his habits. I was his bodyguard once. And I can tell you that he is a coward in his old age. And as a member of the Military High Command, I get access to his itineraries and schedules. I frequently attend Senate meetings. They plan on classifying you and your followers as enemies of the state, terrorists, etc. once you have about half a million followers."

Megatron listened to Starscream's explanations, and when the Chief Air Marshal was finished, said "This information is interesting. But I must ask: why are you siding with me?"

Starscream smiled. "Because, I know you will win against the government. I will help you with it, and I have plans already on how to restructure the military forces afterwards, to ensure that promotions are earned by merit and bravery, and not by your social ranking."

Megatron smiled at this. Then he said again, simply, "Go back to Vos, Starscream. You are needed there. When the time comes again, we shall contact one another."

The Chief Air Marshal of the Cybertronian Air Force smiled, nodded slightly then walked off, having found the figure he would from now on work for and aid in his plans to bring about the end of caste and a new Golden Age.

* * *

 **AN: Starscream being sent to spy on a political movement only to become a high-ranking part of it is inspired by how Hitler joined the German Workers' Party. Any mention of Stormtroopers in future chapters will be inspired by Star Wars (especially the cloning), because let's face it, the Decepticons would love the Empire.**

 **Merry Christmas!**


	5. The Rally

Optimus was watching the latest rally of Megatron's followers in Kaon on an unmonitored channel. Besides his left arm, there lay a treatise written by Megatron that had just been published, and was causing a great controversy within Cybertronian society. Optimus himself was currently writing a review about this article, which he had impressed him greatly; he knew Megatron had incredible charisma and possessed more intelligence than most other gladiators and ex-soldiers, but he never knew that he was a lower-caste intellectual. Heck, this made a third of the philosophers of Crystal City look like they had damaged brain modules.

The rally was enormous, even compared to his previous ones. There was a stand at the front of the, what he estimated, to be 240,000 members of Megatron's as-yet unnamed movement, now among them many scientists and lower-rank officers in the military. At the head of this gathering was a stand and podium, with five 'bots from Megatron's inner circle on either side of the podium, standing tall and straight, like soldiers awaiting the arrival of their commanding officer: Soundwave, Lugnut, Barricade, Scrapper and Bonecrusher on one side, and on the other side, Shockwave, Motormaster, Wildrider, Blackout and Starscream, who Sentinel Prime still believed was working for him when in reality, Starscream had allied himself with Megatron and had been supplying the Senate and Federal Council with mostly false information since he set foot in Kaon.

Shockwave walked up to the podium and began to speak: "Fellow Cybertronians, we are here to hear, once again, we are here to learn more about the deception and lies about the caste system, and the best ways to combat this threat to our species' survival!"

* * *

"I don't like this," said Contrail of the Federal Council, who were also watching this rally, as was Sentinel Prime and the Deputy-Head of Cybertron High Command, Zeta. "Over the past 300 solar cycles this gladiatorial upstart has created a practical army against us! Even if Starscream is the mole, there's still the possibility that because of us using him, we'll lose most of the Air Force to this Megatron's army!"

"From what I have heard from Starscream, there are only 400,000 followers in this movement, which is only a mere 0.01% of the population," countered Sentinel Prime. "At the moment they are not a threat, but the fact they have Shockwave allying themselves with them just shows that in time, they will become a threat."

"Yes, that makes things sound much better," muttered Contrail sarcastically.

"He's starting. Let us hear what he must say," said Zeta.

"My followers, my brothers, my fellow Cybertronians, it is time we find it in ourselves the courage, the strength, the will to fight our enemies! The caste system has seen us lose contact with the colonies created by our ancestors in the Golden Age, millennia ago! Our space bridges have fallen into disrepair, and our Senators and generals are aloof to the problems that we face! We, the lower and middle castes, who the higher castes live off of and siphon their wealth off! I must ask you, will you let this injustice and oppression continue?"

"NO!" called the crowd.

"Will you stand by as we slowly become more decadent and lazy, and allow the Quintessons to return and enslave us?" he asked again.

"NO!"

"Will you join me in ending this deceit and treachery?"

"YES! WE WILL!"

"The Federal Council, the Magistrates and the Senators will only understand the truth once we make them see their own lies, and for situations like that, deception is necessary," continued Megatron.

"But now, I will take a break from speaking and allow one of my closest followers, Chief Air Marshal of the Cybertronian Air Force, Starscream, to come to the stand." Megatron walked away to the side as applause came in from the crowd as Starscream walked to the podium.

"We shall see where Starscream's loyalties lie in time," muttered Contrail loud enough for everyone else to hear.

* * *

"Fellow Cybertronians, although I am of a higher caste, I am disgusted by the favouritism, injustice and the abuse of power by the other castes who view themselves as higher than the rest. When they promote you in the army, those of the lower castes are never given officer rank! Even if they are skilled in leadership, geniuses at strategy, they are snubbed in favour of an incompetent son of a Senator! Considering the number of fools in high-ranking military positions, it seems that is the only occupation anybody would _want_ a caste for." This joke caused laughter from the crowds, and a smirk and chuckle from Zeta.

"Of course, what we are all doing and delivering speeches about here is not funny. It is a very serious business we are in, and there is a very high risk of being caught and executed _without trial_ , which the Senate and Federal Council have done many times before! Therefore, I applaud all of you who have come here today as being the bravest Cybertronians created, willing and daring enough to risk being captured by an oppressive regime and attend a rally held by a group of potential traitors! It is you who are the reason this movement will succeed! And when we do, we shall return to the glory days of Cybertronian expansion, and create an Empire where we are all free from caste and suffering!"

The applause was deafening. Megatron merely stood there, smiling, whilst thinking, ' _Starscream truly believes in this cause. He would make a fine lieutenant, more ambitious than Soundwave, more loyal than Shockwave, more intelligent than Bonecrusher and charisma and rhetoric to match my own. However, I will have to keep an optic on him._ '

Optimus watched, amazed at how well-spoken and well-thought out Starscream's speech was. "If Megatron has these many great 'bots on his side," he murmured softly to himself, "it'll be a miracle if he's arrested. He's too high-profile now."

Little did he, or anybody else know, it would not be long before the paths of Optimus the practitioner of law, and Megatron the revolutionary, would pass and be forever intertwined.

* * *

 **AN: I like the idea of Starscream being charismatic and intelligent. He has the skill and knowledge to be Decepticon leader, he is just too arrogant and egotistical.**

 **Review, favourite and follow if you like it! And let me know if you have any ideas for the next chapters.**


	6. Discontinuation of this Story

**AN: It is with a heavy heart that I say this, but I am discontinuing this story.**

 **It hasn't exactly turned out the way I originally wanted it to, and I've also lost interest in this fic.**

 **I apologise to those people who've read this story and liked it, hoping for it to continue. Maybe someday, I'll try and remake it, only better.**

 **Ciao,**

 **DrAveBat007**


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